Foamed polyurethane materials, for example, those formed from diisocyanates treated with polyethers or polyesters, and reacted with blowing agents to produce foams, have long been known. Such foams are commonly used in applications such as the fabrication of flexible articles including furniture, cushions, carpet underlays, and others. More rigid-type foams find use in products such as, for example, boat hulls, insulation, automobile components, and the like. While such foams find widespread application, they tend to be somewhat expensive, and the physical makeup of their structures imposes certain physical limitations which circumscribe the uses to which they can successfully be put. By suitably modifying such materials, however their altered, and the range of useful applications for which the materials are suited can be considerably expanded. Also, the lower polyalkylene ether polyols such as polyethylene ether glycol react with organic polyisocyanates and in the presence of blowing agents to yield water soluble or swellable foams.